European Vertical Reference System Influence in Latvia

Till 1 December, 2014, in Latvia the heights were determined in Baltic Normal Height System 1977. The national height system is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers and internal laws. Now for the change of the national height system to reconcile it with the European Vertical Reference System, amendments to the laws and regulations have been developed, but so far only the amendment to the Geospatial Information Law is in force, the amendment to the regulation of the Cabinet of Ministers is still not approved. This amendment declares the Latvia Height System based on the European Vertical Reference System in Latvia as the national height system. For height transformation, there is a transformation formula for each European country. After calculations it is seen that height difference between Baltic Normal Height System 1977 and European Vertical Reference System depends on point location in the territory (coordinates). This unequal height difference between both height systems will cause unequal height values on border connection points between Baltic countries. The aim of the research is to evaluate the European Vertical Reference System in Latvia. To reach the aim the following tasks are set: 1) to evaluate the components of transformation formulas; 2) using the transformation formulas to calculate height differences between Baltic Normal Height System 1977 and the European Vertical Reference System realization EVRF2007 for the territory of Latvia and also between Baltic Normal Height System 1977 and the Latvia Normal Height System; 3) to get height differences in the European Vertical Reference System on the borderlines of Latvia - Estonia and Latvia - Lithuania.